GOP lawmakers break with Trump on loosening federal restrictions for marijuana

GOP lawmakers pushed back against President Donald Trump’s decision to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana Thursday.

The president signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to finish reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug, though the directive does not legalize marijuana for recreational use. A vast swath of Republicans warned the president to keep marijuana as a Schedule I drug, arguing the substance is a threat to public safety and has addictive risks for young people.

Marijuana currently has the same classification as heroin, synthetic opioids and ecstasy, which are considered substances that have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”

Trump’s directive would finalize the rescheduling of marijuana to a Schedule III drug, which would ease certain research restrictions and expand medical uses, regardless of state laws.

“It’s a gateway drug,” Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who said his brother died after a lifelong battle with drug addiction, told reporters Thursday.

“Marijuana impacts your brain. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it,” the Florida Republican said.

“I’m concerned that marijuana is more dangerous than people say it is,” Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said when asked about the anticipated reclassification.

The duo, both close Trump allies, are among the 22 Republican senators who sent a letter to Trump on Wednesday, urging the president to uphold marijuana as a Schedule I drug. Four members of Senate GOP leadership also signed the letter, Punchbowl News first reported.

“Marijuana continues to fit the definition of a Schedule I drug due to its high potential for abuse and its lack of an FDA-approved use,” the 22 GOP senators wrote. “The evidence shows that marijuana is harmful to its users, especially to young people and women who are pregnant and nursing.”

Across the Capitol, 26 House Republicans authored a similar letter calling on Trump to refrain from reclassifying marijuana. The cohort argued marijuana is “a harmful drug that is worsening our nation’s addiction crisis,” in a letterreported by Fox News.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment before publication.

Schedule III substances are defined as having “moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependance.” Drugs with that classification include ketamine, anabolic steroids and Tylenol with codeine.

The reclassification process began under former President Joe Biden administration in 2024, but he did not complete the rescheduling before leaving office.

“The facts compel the federal government to recognize that marijuana can be legitimate in terms of medical applications when carefully administered,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.

Trump also established a pilot program Thursday to allow Medicaid beneficiaries to be reimbursed for some CBD treatments.

CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten said Tuesday that Trump could improve his political standing among young people if he moved forward with weakening federal restrictions on marijuana.

“This could be an issue that could help, among other issues, help bring them back into the president’s camp,” Enten said. “So for me, this could be a wedge issue that the president could use, in fact, against his Democratic opposition.”

In 2024, Trump notably pledged to expand the medical uses of marijuana by reclassifying the drug if granted a second term. He also supported a ballot initiative in his home state of Florida to legalize marijuana for recreational use for individuals 21 years and older. Voters rejected the referendum in November 2024 following vocal opposition from Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the state’s Republican Party.

“In my district specifically, we’re not huge supporters of marijuana,” Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who represents a Gulf Coast district outside of Tampa, told reporters Wednesday.

Caden Olson contributed to this report.

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